


somewhere far away from here

by suspendrs



Series: alien harry [2]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alien Harry, Anal Sex, And Lots of It, Angst, Established Relationship, FBI Agent Louis, M/M, idk - Freeform, just a ridiculous and unrealistic sequel to my ridiculous and unrealistic alien fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-06
Updated: 2017-11-06
Packaged: 2019-01-27 16:43:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12586224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suspendrs/pseuds/suspendrs
Summary: “Harry,” Louis says, squeezing his arm. “Do you know her?”“My sister,” Harry mutters, eyes glued to the screen.“What’s she saying?” Louis asks, voice quiet. “What does she want?”“Me,” Harry murmurs, hardly a breath. “She knows I’m here.”Or, Harry's sister comes to Earth to bring him home, but Harry's got a few things keeping him here.





	somewhere far away from here

**Author's Note:**

> lots of people have been asking for a sequel since i posted the original so i took just about every suggestion i got and mashed it all into one glorious pile of angsty goodness. hope you enjoy.
> 
> (happy birthday [Kayla](styleandsin.tumblr.com))

Fall starts the same way most new things start in Louis’s life now: with Harry crying. Louis had come home from work earlier and found Harry sobbing by the window, wrapped in a blanket, absolutely distraught about the fact that the world is ending and he only just got here. Louis just wrapped him up in his arms and let him cry until he could get a word in to tell Harry that the world isn’t ending, just the summer is.

It helped quell Harry’s tears a bit but he’s still weepy for the rest of the day, which is how Louis finds himself here, he supposes.

In an effort to make Harry stop fucking crying for five minutes, he finally offered to take him to pick out a kitten. Harry’s been asking for one the whole time Louis has known him, and Louis’s been slowly warming up to the idea, and he supposes now is as good a time as ever.

Harry had spent some time with every kitten at the pet store, brought each of them into the little play area and got to know them before making his decision. It was difficult, and there was a close call with another round of tears, but eventually Harry chose the tiniest, fluffiest kitten, her fur so light gray it’s almost purple, with sparkling blue eyes and a pink button nose. Harry had held her like a baby all the way back home, cooing names at her to see which one she’d like to be called.

Of course, no name is good enough for Harry’s new baby, so they’re still brainstorming on the living room floor. Louis’s leaning back against the sofa while Harry’s sprawled on his back on the floor, the kitten climbing up on top of him to investigate him. Louis’s so endeared he can hardly stand it, grinning when Harry sticks out his tongue and the kitten inches forward to sniff it.

Harry’s just been babbling for ages, telling the kitten story after story like she can understand him. He’s told her all about how he doesn’t come from this planet, how there’s nothing like her at all where he’s from, how he’s so lucky he got to come here and meet her and Louis and everyone else. He tells her about how he likes vegetables the most because they’re most similar to what he ate at home and how Louis always teases him for it, and that he hopes she likes vegetables too so they can gang up on him and make him eat his greens.

“Cats don’t like vegetables, Harry,” Louis giggles, reaching out to poke Harry’s ear with his socked toe. “Cats like meat.”

“Meat?” Harry gasps, glancing up at Louis. He catches his foot in his hand, holding on tightly. 

“Fish, tuna, usually,” Louis says, trying and failing to wriggle his foot out of Harry’s grip. “Let go, that tickles.”

Harry lets go immediately, bringing his massive hand back down to pet the kitten again. “Maybe we should name her Tuna?”

“That would make her a cannibal,” Louis says. “There’s a dog on Instagram named Tuna, you would like him.”

Harry just grunts in distaste, not taking his eyes off the kitten. Harry doesn’t like social media because he doesn’t understand how it works, and he refuses to acknowledge it when Louis brings it up. “What should we name her, then?”

“How about Lavender?” Louis suggests, smiling when the kitten hops down off of Harry and trots over to investigate Louis now. Louis parts his legs where they’re stretched out in front of him and the kitten nudges her nose against the inside of his knee, batting at the loose fabric of his sweatpants.

“Why Lavender?” Harry asks, sitting up and crawling backwards to sit next to Louis, pressing close to his side.

“Because she’s almost lavender colored, she’s that purpley kind of gray, and lavender helps calm people down, like she calmed you down today when you thought the world was ending,” Louis says.

Harry blinks, a slow smile spreading over his face. “Lavender,” he says gently. The kitten blinks up at him and Harry gasps, clutching at Louis’s thigh.

“She responded!” he says, leaning over Louis’s lap to get a little closer to her. “Lavender?” he says, a little softer. The kitten reaches up and bats at Harry’s nose with her soft little paw and Harry squeals, sitting back up. 

“We have a winner, then?” Louis chuckles, reaching down to pet the kitten’s head. “Lavender the cat.”

“Lavender Tomlinson,” Harry says, nudging Louis’s cheek with his nose and then resting his head on his shoulder. “That’s her full name.”

“Why’s she taking my name?” Louis asks, resting his cheek against Harry’s head.

“Well, I don’t have a last name,” Harry says. “So she’ll have yours, and someday so will I.”

Louis’s heart stutters and he grins, pressing a kiss into Harry’s hair. He explained the concept of marriage to Harry a long time ago, and Harry’s been obsessed with it ever since. Louis wants him to have everything in the world that he wants.

They’re quiet for a few minutes, and Louis lets his mind wander, Harry’s hair tickling his throat. Louis loves him so much, will never stop being thankful that Harry decided to give up everything he knew to come explore Earth and see it all for himself.

“Can I ask you a question?” Louis asks, voice quiet and muffled against Harry’s hair. Harry doesn’t say anything for a moment, until Louis shifts to look down at him.

“Oh, were you talking to me?” Harry asks.

“Who the fuck else would I be talking to?” Louis laughs, shaking his head.

“Lavender,” Harry says, clapping a hand over Louis’s mouth. “Don’t cuss in front of her, you’ll corrupt her.”

Louis rolls his eyes, licking Harry’s hand until he pulls it away. “Well she can’t answer me now, can she?” he says, ignoring Harry’s other comment.

“Doesn’t mean you can’t ask,” Harry shrugs. Louis falls silent for a moment, pondering that. Sometimes Harry says things that strike Louis deep, and he’ll never stop being surprised by it. “What were you going to ask?” Harry says, poking his finger into Louis’s cheek.

Louis shifts them around so he’s curled into Harry’s side, Harry’s arm around his shoulders. Lavender climbs up on his lap and Louis pets her carefully, thoughtfully.

“Do you miss your family?” Louis asks finally.

“Not really,” Harry says, without much thought. 

“But don’t you love them?” Louis asks, peering up at Harry. Harry doesn’t look at him, keeping his eyes on Lavender. 

“I don’t know,” Harry says. He doesn’t sound upset, or evasive; he sounds genuinely confused.

“What don’t you know?” Louis asks, curling his arm around Harry’s stomach to cuddle him better.

“Love wasn’t something that was available to me before I came here,” Harry says, taking over petting Lavender when Louis stops. “I didn’t know what it was, or what if felt like, until you taught me.”

“You mean you didn’t notice it because you couldn’t articulate it, or you didn’t feel it at all until you came here?” Louis asks.

“I don’t know,” Harry says again. “I think of them fondly, but I don’t think I love them, nor do I actively miss them or wish I was with them. I mean, I don’t feel the same way about them as I do about you, not even close, so that’s not love,” he says decisively. 

“Well, the love you feel for your family is a bit different from how you feel about a significant other,” Louis says.

“How?” Harry frowns, finally glancing at his face.

“Like, I guess it’s mostly the same, except instead of wanting to kiss and touch them you just want to hug them sometimes and make them happy,” Louis explains. 

Harry twists his face up, shaking his head. “I don’t think I want to hug my sister,” he says. “Just you.”

“Well, sometimes I don’t want to hug my sisters either,” Louis laughs, squeezing Harry a little around the waist. Harry hums quietly, a natural end to the conversation, but Louis is still curious. “Will you tell me about them? A little?”

“Tell you what?” Harry asks, somewhat distracted by the way Lavender is nudging against his hand. 

“Stories,” Louis says, resting his head against Harry’s chest and watching Lavender, too. “About growing up with your sister, or what your house looked like. Your friends, your parents, nice things about your mom or things you did with your dad,” he says.

Harry’s quiet for a moment, and Louis begins to suspect the conversation is over, until finally Harry starts talking.

“Where I come from, there are these little animals that kinda look like fish, except not, because they have legs and don’t live in the water. They live above, and one time my sister went exploring with her friends and brought one home. It ran loose inside our house and my mother had to chase it around for ages, and she eventually made it leave,” he says, smiling into Louis’s hair. “It was funny.”

Louis grins, and though the sentence makes hardly any sense to him, he loves hearing about Harry’s planet. “What do you mean it lives above?” Louis asks. “Above what?”

“Above us,” Harry says. “The people on my planet live inside the ground, not on top, like here. Our sun doesn’t reach the planet the same way it does here, so most living things live inside the planet. The light and heat comes from the core of the planet, the same way the core of Earth is hot. We live inside because we need the heat and the light, but there are things that live above, too, where it’s cold and dark. I suppose it’s kind of like how things live deep in the ocean here,” he says.

“Wow,” Louis breathes, imagining it for a moment. “That sounds amazing. So do you have water on your planet?” he asks, unable to stop asking questions now that he’s started.

“Of course we do,” Harry says. “There are lakes and things on the inside, but they’re too hot for anything to live in.”

“God, that’s so cool,” Louis says, closing his eyes to picture it all. 

“Not really,” Harry shrugs. “Earth is way cooler. My planet is just the same all the time, there’s no day or night or seasons or weather. It’s amazing here, the way every day is new and different and exciting and every part of the world is different and there’s always things left to discover,” he says dreamily.

“How does your planet know so much about Earth?” Louis asks. “We didn’t even know there was life in the universe except for us before you came along,” he says.

“Our planet and species is older than yours,” Harry says. “My species was alive long before your planet even formed. The people on my planet are quite territorial, though, and though we’ve always had the technology to contact Earth, we never did because no one wanted to. Everyone thinks Earth is evil,” he scoffs, shaking his head.

“Why do they think it’s evil?” Louis asks. “I mean, there are definitely evil parts, but I’d like to think we’re pretty decent overall.”

“It’s because they don’t understand, and they don’t care to,” Harry says. “They don’t get how you walk on the outside of your planet, or why it gets dark or how you can survive so close to the sun. Haven’t you ever wondered why I’m always so much colder than you are? It’s because my planet is so cold we’d die if we weren’t adapted to go above, and even inside it’s so incredibly colder than Earth.”

Louis bites his tongue, holding back a barrage of questions. He knows Harry hates to feel like he’s being interrogated so Louis always has to hold back when they have conversations like this, even though he’s got a million questions swirling in his head and he just wants answers to all of them.

“What’s your sister’s name?” he asks, instead of asking if Harry can maybe recant every lesson he ever had in school.

“I don’t have an English word for it,” Harry says. “Or even a human word.”

“What is it in your language, then?” Louis hums.

Harry makes an odd crooning noise in the very back of his throat, the part Louis doesn’t share in his anatomy; it’s two short syllables, croaky and high pitched. Louis flinches at the sound.

He feels horrible whenever he asks Harry to say something in his own tongue and then flinches; he’ll probably never get over the deep feeling of unsettlement whenever Harry does something to remind him he’s not human. Sometimes Louis forgets, is all, that Harry is an entirely different species, and it always catches him off guard when he’s reminded.

“I don’t like speaking in my tongue in front of you,” Harry confesses quietly. “It scares you, and I hate it.”

“It doesn’t scare me,” Louis says, mostly telling the truth. “I’m not scared, it just- it’s weird for me, and it always catches me off guard, but it’s not scary. I like hearing it, and I like that you’re different from me,” he says earnestly, leaning up to kiss Harry’s jaw gently.

“You flinch every time I do it,” Harry mutters. “I don’t like being different from you.”

“Hush,” Louis says, nipping at Harry’s jaw a little. “Tell me another story, but in your tongue this time. Please?” he hums sweetly.

Harry rolls his eyes a little, a trait he definitely picked up from Louis, and sighs. He speaks quietly, his alien language falling from his mouth like nothing Louis’s ever heard. It makes Louis’s blood run cold for some reason he can’t explain but he does his best to quell the anxious turning of his stomach at the sound, the nervous jitter of his fingers.

Lavender takes quite an interest in the language, perking up and practically launching herself up onto Harry’s chest when he finishes his story a minute later. Harry laughs and catches her, giving her a little kiss on her little button nose.

She bats at his face and Harry starts talking again, and Lavender about loses it. The voice excites her inexplicably, and she can hardly stop wriggling in Harry’s hands, as Louis watches on quietly.

He hates that Harry feels bad about who he is because of him. Louis wants nothing more than for Harry to feel loved and accepted and _normal_ , but every time he tries to be himself around Louis he feels like he’s scaring him. He supposes it’s better that the kitten is so excited about it, because he’s never seen Harry so happy to speak in his own tongue.

Louis excuses himself to go to bed after a bit, while Harry is still cuddling Lavender on the living room floor. Louis leaves them with a kiss to the shell of Harry’s ear and a scratch under Lavender’s chin, and then picks himself up to shuffle off to the bedroom. 

They set up Lavender’s bed and litter box in the corner of the living room earlier, because Harry’s too afraid to let her sleep in the bed with them in case he might roll over and crush her in the night. Louis strips out of his joggers and t-shirt and falls into bed in just his boxers, curling up under the covers on his side of the bed. 

Harry follows him in hardly any time at all, before Louis’s even close to falling asleep. He still shuts the door silently behind himself and tiptoes to the bed, like there’s even a chance Louis is already asleep, curling up behind him and holding him carefully.

“Does Lavender like her bed?” Louis asks, making Harry jump nearly out of his skin. Harry sighs and cuddles closer once he’s sure Louis is awake, tucking his face into his neck. 

“She seemed very confused,” he mumbles. “I feel so guilty leaving her there, she just keep watching me walk away and trying to follow me.”

“She’ll get used to it,” Louis chuckles. “Worse comes to worst, we can move her bed in here so she can be close to us,” he says.

Harry hums, kissing gently down the back of Louis’s neck. Louis smiles to himself and lets his eyes fall closed, until Harry nips at his ear a little too hard.

“Don’t go to sleep,” he says, soothing over his bite with his lips.

“But I wanna go to sleep,” Louis whines, pouting into the dark. “Why can’t I go to sleep?”

“I want to thank you for getting me a kitten,” Harry says, snaking his arm around Louis’s front and spreading his fingers over his chest.

“You’re welcome,” Louis hums in reply, letting his eyes fall closed again, only to open them with a shriek when Harry pinches his nipple.

“I was hoping we could make a baby,” Harry breathes into his ear, “without actually making a baby.”

“Oh my god,” Louis says, loudly enough to startle Harry into a fit of giggles. “Just call it sex, what the _fuck_.”

Harry giggles sweetly behind him, pressing his face into the nape of his neck and his hips against his arse. “Can we?”

Louis’s been avoiding this since the first time Harry brought it up. It’s not that he doesn’t want to, because he really, really wants to, it’s just- he feels a bit awkward having to explain everything, and he almost feels like Harry’s too innocent, like Louis’s going to ruin his purity by having sex with him. Harry’s never seen him naked since the time he walked in on him on the shower, and Louis’s never seen Harry naked even once, and the longer they go without it the weirder Louis feels about it.

Harry pulls away from him and pushes him onto his back, hovering over him and kissing him long and slow and sweet. He steals all the breath from Louis’s lungs and leaves him gasping and aching, and, yeah, maybe it’s about time.

“Do I have to walk you through it?” he asks, watching Harry’s face as Harry grins and climbs up on top of him. “Do you understand how this works?”

“Um, actually,” Harry says, blushing brightly and looking down. “I was hoping, maybe, that I could show you how we do it where I’m from? I’d like to teach you something, for a change.”

Louis’s lower stomach burns bright and he groans, floored with sudden arousal at that. “Alright, yeah,” he breathes, reaching out to lay a hand over Harry’s bare stomach, the skin cool under his skin.

He lets his eyes fall shut again as Harry climbs back off of him and undresses him, pulling his boxers off and tossing them to the floor. He keeps his eyes closed while Harry undresses himself, as well, the bed rustling and dipping beside him.

Harry goes quiet and still for a moment once he’s settled back on Louis’s lap, nothing but skin on skin and blood roaring in Louis’s ears. Harry doesn’t seem to be making any moves, though, so Louis peeks an eye open, finds Harry watching him nervously.

“Sorry,” Harry says, grinning through the blood rushing to his cheeks. “I have a question.”

“Christ,” Louis huffs, laughing quietly. “That’s alright, what is it?”

“At home,” Harry says, dropping his eyes to their crotches, tracing a line down Louis’s stomach and around his mostly soft dick. Louis doesn’t follow his eyes. “Um, at home, when boys have sex with each other, they have to use something to make it, like, slippery,” he says, meeting Louis’s eyes again while he speaks.

“Lube,” Louis says, nodding toward his bedside table. “Top drawer.”

“Good,” Harry grins, climbing off of him yet again to find the lube. Louis averts his eyes, still scared to see Harry completely naked, and lets his eyelids fall closed again before Harry comes back. Harry manhandles Louis’s legs open and sits between them, waiting half a second before he reaches up and taps Louis’s cheek.

“If you fall asleep during this I’m going to leave,” Harry says seriously. Louis laughs and shakes his head, but doesn’t open his eyes.

“I’m not falling asleep,” Louis says, chuckling quietly. “I promise.”

“Then why are your eyes closed?” Harry asks.

“I like them closed,” Louis shrugs.

“Can they not be closed?” Harry says, sounding slightly annoyed.

“Hush, just go,” Louis says, keeping his eyes firmly closed and batting at Harry’s arm.

“Look at me,” Harry says, quietly. “Please.”

Louis cracks his eyes open at that, finding Harry’s face a lot closer to his own than he expected. Harry looks confused, and a little worried, and Louis’s smile turns into a frown.

“What’s wrong?” Harry asks, eyes searching Louis’s.

“Nothing,” Louis says, reaching up to wrap his arms around Harry’s shoulders.

“Why are you keeping your eyes closed?” Harry persists. “Be honest, Louis.”

Louis sighs, rolling his eyes a little. “I’m scared.”

“Of what? Me?”

“No!” Louis assures, locking eyes with Harry again. “No, of course not. Never scared of you,” he assures.

“Then what?” Harry asks, huffing a breath. “Do you not want to do this? We don’t have to-”

“No, I want to,” Louis says, nudging Harry’s nose with his own. “I just- don’t want to look, is all.”

Harry pulls away quickly, but he doesn’t go terribly far. He looks hurt, confused, and Louis feels like slapping himself across the face.

“Well, why not?” Harry demands, the blood rushing back to his face.

“I don’t know, it just- it feels weird,” Louis admits, trying to pull Harry back in. Harry stays put, though, keeps frowning down at him.

“Okay, well we don’t have to do it then,” Harry says, pulling back a little further and shuffling backwards on his knees. “That’s all you had to say.”

“No,” Louis whines, reaching for him, keeping his eyes locked on Harry’s face. “I want to, though.”

“I’m not going to do anything if you’re not going to look at me,” Harry says, looking quite upset now. “I mean, what’s going to happen after? Will you look at me then? Is this going to mess things up?”

Harry is so, so good at being a human, and he isn’t even a human. Louis admires his judgement skills, even if they’re currently keeping him from getting what he wants.

“No, I’m sorry,” he says, sitting up and wrapping his arms around Harry, pulling him back in. “I’ll keep my eyes open, alright? I’m sorry,” he says softly.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Harry shrugs, making to pull away. “It’s fine, I don’t-”

“Harry,” Louis laughs, pushing until Harry falls onto his back on the bed, Louis on top of him. He grinds down against Harry’s hips, and it’s odd to say the least, but he can already feel Harry thickening up under him and he puts his anxiety aside. “Please, show me how the aliens fuck,” he says, kissing up Harry’s jawline and biting at his ear while he grinds down again. “Show me what I’ve been missing.”

Harry grins, rolling them over quickly so Louis falls back onto his pillow, breath leaving him in a huff. “It’s truly out of this world,” Harry says, rolling his hips down like Louis did a moment ago and groaning into Louis’s neck. 

Louis snorts, and Harry takes that as his cue to move. He sits up again and parts Louis’s legs to sit between them, grabbing the lube and slicking up his fingers. Louis keeps his eyes glued to Harry’s face, but eventually he lets his eyes drop to his hands. They’re so fucking massive, soft and lithe, his fingers thin and long and agile. His eyes keep falling until finally they fall on Harry’s cock, and his own perks up immediately.

Harry’s huge. Like, massive. He’s definitely not human, a bit oddly shaped but still gorgeous, thick and hard and dark already. Louis whines a little and Harry smirks at him, catching him looking. He reaches down to find Louis’s hole with his slippery fingers and Louis spreads his legs wide, getting a hand around his dick as he fills out at the feeling of Harry’s prodding fingers.

Harry’s so gentle, but his fingers are so long it’s nothing short of amazing, and Louis’s rock hard before long. He loses it rather quickly, whining and squirming while Harry fingers him open, fucking in and out of him and driving him straight to the edge already without even going near his prostate.

“Harry,” Louis pants, stilling his hand on himself to stave off the impending orgasm. “Do you have a spot inside you that feels best when you touch it?”

“Uh, I don’t think so,” Harry frowns, glancing down at where his two fingers are buried deep inside of Louis.

“Okay, well, I do,” Louis says, voice weak.

“Can I find it?” Harry asks eagerly, fingering him twice as hard immediately. Louis chokes a little and nods, curling the fingers of his free hand in the air to show Harry what to do with his own.

Harry finds it in no time, bumping gently against his prostate and then focusing all of his attention on it at once when Louis yelps. Louis feels his eyes roll back in his head, hand squeezing his cock so hard to keep from coming that it almost hurts.

“Good, good,” Louis says, unable to keep his eyes open, though he tries. “Oh god, Harry, good, enough, stop, I’m gonna come.”

“Stop?” Harry frowns, screwing his fingers in a little harder, making Louis see stars. “But that’s the best part.”

Louis just whines and he can’t hold it back anymore, not really, so he loosens his grip on himself and strokes once, twice before he comes all over himself, whining high and loud in the back of his throat.

Harry doesn’t stop, working him through it and watching him closely, until Louis chokes on a dry sob and reaches down to pull Harry’s hand away from where he’s still going at it. He starts lubing up his cock as soon as Louis lets go of his hand and Louis whimpers, too blissed out to do much more than reach down and try to bat him away again.

“Wait, shit, wait,” he pants, “holy fuck.”

“Why wait?” Harry frowns, dropping his dick immediately but looking confusedly at him. 

“I literally just came,” Louis chuckles, breathless and boneless. “You need to give me a minute.”

Harry keeps frowning but he nods, watching Louis quietly while he tries to recover. He waits about thirty seconds before he cocks his head, wrapping his hand back around his cock. “Now?”

“Jesus Christ, no,” Louis hisses, slapping him away. “Do you not need rests between orgasms?”

“No?” Harry says, folding his hands in his lap but looking rather impatient, eyes flickering back and forth between Louis’s eyes and dick. 

“Oh, god,” Louis whines, reaching down to get his hand back around his cock quickly. Maybe he’ll need less of a break than he anticipated. 

Harry gives him about a minute longer to recover before he gets back to work, hovering over him while he presses inside. Louis lets his eyes flutter shut again while Harry fills him up, oversensitive but ready for it, somehow, even though he knows he shouldn’t be. Harry nudges Louis’s cheek with his nose and Louis hums in response, until Harry grunts at him. “Louis, eyes.”

He forces his eyes open, finding Harry’s face only an inch from his own, eyes dark and glassy and wide. It’s all he can do to keep his eyes open and focused on Harry’s when Harry starts moving his hips, starting out fast and only getting faster.

Louis throws an arm over his face, biting into his own wrist, his other hand working furiously over his own cock. He’s only half hard, but he’s getting there slowly, Harry’s little moans and whimpers going straight to his groin. 

Harry fucks him so hard Louis thinks he’s going to wake up with bruises, if he wakes up at all. Harry’s holding him mostly still but he’s also fucking him up the mattress; Louis can feel the sheets sliding under his back, can feel his head inching ever closer to the wall until Harry yanks him back and starts the process over. He’s still only mostly hard when Harry comes, biting down on his shoulder and whining against his skin.

He doesn’t let up for even a second, hips pumping through his orgasm and then picking up even more, fucking into Louis with short, quick thrusts. Louis’s an absolute mess, writhing around like he can’t tell up from down, moaning wantonly into the skin of his own arm until Harry pulls it away and kisses him, instead.

 _I’m gonna die_ , Louis thinks, brain so starved for oxygen his head is spinning, and then Harry gets one of those magical hands around him, displacing his own hand, and Louis comes again, sudden and _hard_. Harry comes right after him, but Louis hardly even notices, too caught up in all of his own senses.

He all but screams, breaking away from Harry’s kiss, fucking his hips up into Harry’s hand until the pleasure fades into blinding pain, and he shoves Harry off of him with all of the strength he has left. Harry whimpers quietly as he tumbles to the bed, cock still hard and leaking.

Louis slaps him away when he reaches out to keep touching, his body feeling like one big live wire, like if he’s touched in the next hour he may just explode. Harry doesn’t seem to understand but he doesn’t try again, touching himself instead while Louis tries to gather up the frayed ends of his mind.

Eventually he feels like he can breathe again, body soft and pliant and warm, satisfied. He gains the energy to flop his head to the other side, finding Harry laying beside him, still touching his own cock slowly while he watches Louis breathe.

“Ready again?” Harry asks, hopeful, adorable. Louis wants to slap him across the face, but also kiss him until he dies.

“Yeah, fuckin’ right,” Louis huffs, closing his eyes again for just a moment. Harry doesn’t move, aside from his hand on his cock, and eventually Louis maneuvers himself onto his belly between Harry’s legs.

“What are you- oh,” Harry whimpers as Louis gets his mouth around him, sucking lightly at the head of his cock. “What’s- why-” Harry stutters, but he can’t seem to find the words he needs, reaching up to bite at the fleshy part of his finger, instead.

Louis sucks with every ounce of energy left in him, curls his hands around Harry’s thighs and holds his legs open and just _sucks_ , swirling his tongue and bobbing his head to the best of his ability, and Harry loses it slowly.

He comes down Louis’s throat with a croaky moan, head tossed back against the pillow. Louis swallows everything and then finally pulls back, laughing quietly to himself. Harry’s come tastes like pure sugar, frosting straight from the can, and Louis thinks it’s only fitting that it should taste so sweet.

“What’s funny?” Harry hums, reaching down to pet Louis’s head soothingly. Louis doesn’t have the energy to crawl back up and lay down beside him, settling for cuddling with his leg, instead, head pillowed on one thigh.

“Leave it to you to have actual icing sugar for spunk,” Louis giggles, eyes closing on their own. 

“What does that mean?” Harry frowns, scratching gently behind Louis’s ear. Louis can already feel himself losing consciousness.

“I am absolutely not about to explain that to you,” he mumbles, releasing a soft breath against Harry’s inner thigh. It must tickle, because Harry’s muscle twitches, but he doesn’t shake Louis off.

They stay like that for a bit, and Louis dozes in and out of consciousness for a bit, until Harry shifts under him. He blinks his eyes open when Harry scoops him up, carrying him like a toddler to the bathroom. Louis wraps his legs around Harry’s waist and doesn’t protest, until Harry puts him down on the cold marble counter.

“No,” Louis shrieks, perking up immediately. “Cold. Let me down.”

“Shh, just hold on a second,” Harry says, not moving from between Louis’s legs while he wets a flannel in the sink. He cleans Louis gently with it, and Louis stops complaining, watching the tiny flutters of Harry’s eyelashes while he works.

When he’s done, he pulls Louis back into his arms and carries him to bed, tucking him up under the covers and climbing in next to him. Harry kisses his forehead so, so gently once they’re all snuggled up, and Louis’s heart aches with adoration.

“Ow,” he breathes, grinning into Harry’s chest where he’s laying on it. 

“What hurts?” Harry asks quickly, looking down at him, eyes pretty and worried.

“My heart,” Louis mumbles, worming a hand between their bodies to rest against his own chest.

“Your heart?” Harry says, shifting away a bit so he can look at Louis’s face. “Are you alright? Do you need to go to the hospital?”

“No, hush,” Louis laughs, pulling him back close, pressing a kiss over Harry’s chest. “It just hurts because I love you so much,” he says.

Harry’s quiet for a moment, and Louis thinks the conversation is over, until Harry pets at his hair a little. “So is that a good thing?” he asks, still sounding a little nervous.

“Yes, it’s a good thing,” Louis chuckles. “Sleep now, Harry.”

Harry hums, pressing a kiss to the top of Louis’s head and pulling him close. Louis drifts off in no time at all, and Harry follows right on his heels.

-

Work at the office hasn’t been nearly as exciting since Harry stopped coming with him every day, but Louis supposes it’s all for the best. Harry’s been teaching himself how to cook and bake at home, hopes to one day work in a bakery or something when he gets good enough. It was hard for Louis to part with him at first, to head to the office and ignore the urge to call him every hour to check on him and make sure he wasn’t lonely or scared in the apartment all by himself, but it got easier with time, and Harry does still tag along sometimes when he feels like it.

Harry comes to the office on Monday morning, because he read online somewhere that it’s not good to be with a kitten all day every day or else it’ll become clingy and needy. Harry only shed a few tears this morning, leaving Lavender curled up in her bed where they moved it to the corner of their bedroom. She didn’t seem to mind having the apartment to herself for a day, but Harry couldn’t stand the thought of her missing them while they were gone.

He’s over it now, though, happily annoying Niall in their office while Niall does his absolute best to ignore him. Louis watches fondly from his own desk chair, feet propped up on his desk, until his office phone rings.

“Tomlinson,” he greets, turning his back to Niall and Harry for some privacy. 

“Upstairs, now,” Agent Winston’s voice comes through loud and clear. The sound of it still makes Louis cringe, but Winston is still his boss, and he still has to follow his orders. “Now, Tomlinson. It’s an emergency.”

“On my way,” Louis says, rolling his eyes as he hangs up. “Gotta run upstairs,” he says, leaning over Niall’s desk to drop a kiss to the top of Harry’s head. “Anyone need anything while I’m gone?”

“Can you take this with you?” Niall grunts, shoving Harry gently toward him. Harry just giggles and sits down on Niall’s desk, grinning over his shoulder at Louis.

“Winston says it’s an emergency,” Louis shrugs, shoving his phone in his pocket and heading for the door. “If I’m not back in fifteen, it’s because Winston finally got his way and decided to murder me.”

He takes the lift up a few floors to Winston’s office, finding a tense scene through the open door. There are several agents standing around, rigid and pale, all eyes glued to Louis immediately.

“Tomlinson,” Winston says, sounding grave. “Have you or Agent Horan turned on your computers yet?”

“Uh, I haven’t,” Louis says sheepishly, “can’t say for Niall.”

“He hasn’t then, if you don’t already know what this is about,” Winston mutters, waving him behind the desk. Louis frowns at the video playing on the desktop; it’s on mute, but there’s a pretty brunette girl talking fast, face stern and worried. “This video was transmitted to every computer in the office early this morning,” Winston says. “We have no idea where it came from, or what it means.”

“Well what is she saying?” Louis asks, squinting at the video. “Is she speaking English?”

Winston huffs and taps a key to unmute the video, and suddenly the sound is blaring in Louis’s ears. She’s definitely not speaking English, or any other human language. Louis knows by the way his blood runs cold all at once.

“Harry,” he breathes.

“We need him to translate,” Winston says. “We don’t know what she’s saying or what she wants, or why she is trying to contact us. Where is Harry now?”

“He’s downstairs,” Louis says, already backing toward the door. 

“Get him,” Winston says, muting the video again. Everyone in the room seems to relax a fraction once it’s off, and Louis feels a bit sick. “Quickly.”

Louis bolts, heading straight for the lift and back down to the basement. He must look manic when he bursts into the office, startling Harry and Niall both where they’re laughing at something on Niall’s phone.

“Alright, Tommo?” Niall frowns, standing up from his seat. Harry rushes around the desk to get to him, looking worried.

“What’s wrong?” he hums, touching Louis’s face.

“You need to come upstairs,” Louis says, grabbing Harry’s hand and tugging him down the hall.

“What’s going on?” Harry asks, sounding even more worried now, rushing to keep up. “Louis, what happened?”

“There’s a-” Louis shakes his head, doesn’t have words for it. “You’ll see.”

Niall squeezes into the lift with them at the last second and then they’re off, back up to Winston’s floor. Liam is there when they get there, pacing the room like a madman.

“Here,” Louis says, dragging Harry behind the desk, pointing at the desktop. “Here. Do you know her?”

It takes Harry a moment to gain the courage to glance away from Louis’s face and at the monitor, his face paling instantly.

“Harry,” Louis says, squeezing his arm. “Do you know her?”

“My sister,” Harry mutters, eyes glued to the screen. Every agent in the room shifts uncomfortably, and Winston reaches out to unmute the video for Harry to listen.

Harry grabs for Louis’s hand and holds on tightly, jaw set anxiously while he watches the video. The video flickers and then starts over, and again, and again until finally Louis puts himself between Harry and the screen. 

“What’s she saying?” Louis asks, voice quiet. “What does she want?”

“Me,” Harry murmurs, hardly a breath. “She knows I’m here.”

“What exactly is she saying?” Winston says, impatient. “Please translate for us as accurately as possible, Harry, this is very important.”

Harry watches the video through once more and then talks over it, closing his eyes. “If you have my brother, let him go. I don’t know how he got there, or why, but I know you have something to do with it. Let him go, or I’ll come get him myself,” Harry translates, voice growing weaker with every word.

“Oh, fuck,” Louis breathes, turning to look at Niall, and then Liam, both of them looking like deer in the headlights. 

“Jesus,” Winston says, muting the video once again. “Jesus, fuck.”

“I’m sorry,” Harry says, eyes filling with tears. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“Shh,” Louis soothes, tugging Harry into his arms. He makes eye contact with Winston over Harry’s shoulder and Winston just sets his jaw, and no one says a word for a long few minutes.

“She will come,” Harry says, pulling away from Louis. He’s trembling, cheeks wet, eyes wide with terror. “She wasn’t lying. She will come to find me. I can’t go, though, I can’t go home, I can’t leave,” he sobs, looking frantically at Louis.

“It’s okay,” Louis says, trying to tug Harry back into his arms. Harry resists, sobbing again.

“She’s going to take me,” he says. “She’s going to take me back there and they’re going to punish me for leaving. If I defend Earth it’ll only be worse, but I can’t lie and say you wouldn’t let me leave. Oh, god, oh, Louis,” he cries, clutching at Louis’s arms with his trembling hands.

“She’s not going to take you,” Louis assures. “I won’t let her. We won’t let her,” he says, glancing at Winston again. “Right?”

Winston sighs long and hard, rubbing at his face for a moment before he speaks. Louis fears the worst, but Winston does the unexpected. “I feel as though we have an obligation to protect you,” he says, slow and tired. “You’ve become one of us. You’ve helped us understand so much, and you’re obviously very important to some of our agents,” he throws a pointed look at Louis, “but we cannot protect you if it is going to bring harm to this planet or any humans at all.”

“I don’t know what she’ll do,” Harry admits. “I don’t know what she wants, but if we don’t respond, I can’t promise she won’t get hostile.”

“How do we respond, then?” Winston says, straightening up.

“I don’t think we have the technology here,” Harry says. “I don’t know how she got that message here, or where we would send a reply.”

Winston sighs again, and Harry whimpers. Louis steps a little closer and Harry crumbles into his side, pressing his face into his neck.

“We’ll have to build a shelter, then, to keep you safe,” Winston says. “Until we receive further contact, or your sister shows up here, we’ll need to keep you secure and accounted for. I don’t want this to leave this building; she clearly knows she’ll find you here, and I don’t want you leaving this building for fear she’ll find you somewhere else and cause a scene. You’ll stay here, in a bunker, until we receive further correspondence, understood?”

“I have to stay here?” Harry says, looking up. “Alone?”

“I’ll stay with you,” Louis says, rubbing his back gently. “I’ll be here. I’ll go home and pack some things, and I’ll get the kitten, and then I won’t leave you alone for a moment, okay?”

Harry just trembles, and Louis takes that as a sign that he approves. Winston sends someone to get the bunker set up and Louis leads Harry back down to the basement office, Niall and Liam trailing behind.

“I think we should try to figure out the technology,” Liam says, shutting the door tightly behind the four of them once they make it to Louis and Niall’s office. “Harry, do you have any idea how she transmitted the message?”

“No,” Harry whimpers. “I know that there’s technology on my planet that’s able to contact Earth, but I don’t know how it works. It’s always been around, but no one has ever used it, since no one has ever had any desire to contact Earth, before me. I wish I knew how it works,” he says, worrying his bottom lip with his fingers nervously.

Liam sits down at Niall’s computer and turns it on, the message popping up immediately. He clicks around, looking determined, while Harry sinks into Louis’s desk chair, looking sickly and terrified.

“Hey,” Louis says, dropping to his knees beside the chair. Harry pulls his legs up and rest his chin on his knees, looking down at Louis. “It’s gonna be alright, Harry. We’re gonna figure this out.”

“What if we don’t?” Harry whispers, eyes filling with tears again. “What if she comes here and takes me and I never see you again?”

“Don’t say that,” Louis says, pulling Harry’s ankle until his puts his legs back down so Louis can lay his head on his thigh. “I won’t let that happen.”

Harry just releases a shaky breath and cards his fingers through Louis’s hair, messing it up and smoothing it back into place over and over. Usually it would send Louis right off to sleep, but right now, he doesn’t think he’ll ever be able to sleep again.

-

Niall stays with Harry while Louis runs home to pack a pag, throwing in enough clothes to last them both a week, their toothbrushes, and some tins of Lavender’s food. He supposes he can send Niall over to get some things if they have to stay at the office for longer than Louis’s prepared for. He herds Lavender into her carrier crate and lugs everything out to the car, speeding back to the office with his lip between his teeth.

He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t terrified, but he doesn’t really want Harry to know. He knows Harry is absolutely beside himself with fear that he’s going to be found and taken home, but Louis knows that he’ll only make it worse if he lets Harry knows he’s scared too. He needs to do his best to be strong enough for both of them until they figure out what to do, if there’s even anything they can do. 

Liam meets him in the parking lot and carries the bag Louis packed while Louis carries the cat carrier and the cat bed, being as gentle as possible so he doesn’t jostle Lavender around too much. She’s bound to be terrified, as well, whisked away from her new, warm home to a dark, windowless room in a basement.

Harry lights up as soon as he sees Louis, rushing to him as he comes through the door. Louis waited to leave until the bunker room was set up, and Harry and Niall have been waiting inside the whole time he was gone.

“Nice place, hm?” Louis hums, trying to lighten the mood. “Lots of natural light. I especially love the bunk beds,” he says, nodding to the beds pushed into the corner of the room.

“Give me her,” Harry mumbles, reaching for the car carrier under Louis’s arm. Louis hands it over and Harry drops to the floor immediately, opening the door for Lavender to crawl out into his arms. He mutters something to her in his alien tongue and she clings to his chest, letting him carry her over to sit on the bottom bunk.

“It’s gonna be fine,” Liam says, mostly under his breath. He must be able to tell that Louis wants to shatter into a million pieces. “We’re gonna keep him safe.”

Louis nods, keeping his eyes down, face turned away. “Hey, Haz, what do you want to have for dinner, love?” he hums, doing a fairly good job of hiding the slight tremor in his voice. “You haven’t eaten all day.”

“Not hungry,” Harry says, voice muffled where his face is buried in Lavender’s fur. Louis is so glad he has her, because he’s distracted enough to miss the tears in Louis’s eyes.

Niall and Liam notice, though, because of course they do. Niall gives him a sad smile and Liam just pats his arm gently, and Louis chokes back the tears again. “Do you have anything else you need to do before you call it a night?” Liam asks, as Niall finally comes to join them where they’re huddled by the door.

“Yeah, actually,” Louis says, tearing his eyes away from Harry long enough to look up at Liam. “Will you guys sit with him for just one more minute? It’ll be quick,” he says.

“Course,” Niall smiles, ruffling Louis’s hair a little. “Take your time. Maybe try to calm down a little, yeah?”

Louis nods once, dropping his head as he turns on his heel and marches out of the room. He holds his breath until he gets to the elevator and somehow manages to calm himself down by the time he gets to where he’s going, knocking quietly on Winston’s door.

“Come in,” Winston calls, sounding as tired as Louis feels. Louis’s surprised he’s still here; it’s way past his usual quitting hour, but Louis supposes there are a few extenuating circumstances.

“Hi,” Louis says, pushing the door open and peeking in. “Can I speak with you a moment?”

“Is he alright?” Winston says, peering up at him.

“He’ll be fine,” Louis says, closing the door behind himself and sinking into one of the chairs in front of Winston’s desk. “I just- I want to thank you for, you know, for helping him,” he says, voice low. “It means a lot to me, and to him. I know this is the right thing to do,” he breathes.

“I’m not doing this for him,” Winston says. He’s not gentle; he’s never gentle. “I’m doing this for Earth. For humanity. If I had it my way, I’d have zapped him back to wherever the hell he came from the day he got here, but I understand that he is our responsibility now.”

“What’s our plan?” Louis asks, ignoring the sting of that last comment. “If his family comes for him? I mean, he’s terrified of being taken home. He won’t be safe there, Agent Winston, they’ll put him in jail, or kill him, or…” he trails off, can’t bear to even think about it. “Are we going to continue protecting him if they come? Or are you just going to hand him off like a lost and found item?”

“It pains me to say this,” Winston sighs, “but it is our obligation as morally sound humans to protect him, at this point. However, if it does come down to him or the safety of humanity, or any human at all, well, I think you know where my priorities lie,” he says.

“I understand,” Louis says, some of the tension easing out of his body. “Thank you.”

“Listen, Tomlinson,” Winston says, sitting up a little, urging Louis to do the same. “I like you. I admire your dedication and your strength. But I need you to be smart about this, okay? I really need you to be on my side this time, Tomlinson, and I’m trying so hard to be on yours,” he says.

“I know,” Louis breathes, maintaining eye contact even though he knows Winston must be able to see the way his eyes are filling with tears. “I am on your side. I agree that humanity is our top priority, and I understand that we have to do what’s best for Earth, even if it’s not what’s best for Harry. What I need you to understand though, Agent Winston, is that I will fight to my death to keep him safe,” he says, voice low, serious.

“Understood completely,” Winston assures, giving Louis a small smile. “And I admire that quality in you, Louis. You’re a good agent.”

Louis nods, swallowing the lump in his throat once again and standing up quickly. He doesn’t say another word before he’s out the door, marching down the hallway with tears dripping down his cheeks.

He stops at the restroom to pull himself together a bit, lets himself cry for all of five seconds before he pulls himself together, splashing some cold water on his face. He wants to run away, wants to grab Harry and just run again, flee until it feels like no one can touch them, but there isn’t a place on Earth where they’ll be safe right now, and there isn’t a place beyond, either.

He heads back down to the basement once he’s calmed himself down enough, finding a rather tense scene inside the bunker room. Harry’s sitting on the bottom bunk, back against the wall, Lavender curled up in his arms. Niall is beside him, sitting on the edge of the bed, while Liam loiters awkwardly against the opposite wall. None of them are speaking, and no one says anything when Louis enters. 

“You guys can head out,” Louis says, taking Niall’s spot on the bed when he gets up. Niall and Liam both leave them with sad, nervous smiles, and then they’re gone, the guards taking their places outside the door. Louis thinks it’s a little bit ridiculous that they have guards, but then again, he’d do anything in his power to protect Harry right now.

Harry looks sickly when Louis turns around, pale and exhausted and watching him unflinchingly. Louis swallows hard and crawls over to him, pressing close to his side. Harry breathes in slowly and then shudders out a sob, and Louis scrambles to wrap him up in his arms. Harry clings to him and cries into his neck for what feels like hours, like a lifetime, and Louis wishes there was anything he could do to make it stop. Instead he just holds him, lays them down on the thin, terrible mattress and lets Lavender curl up between them, in whatever tiny space she can find to tuck herself into. She knows Harry is sad, Louis can tell, because she looks distressed, staring up at Louis like there’s anything he can do to fix it.

Louis lets himself cry, too, but only quietly, just enough that Harry won’t be able to tell. He buries his face in Harry’s hair and holds him and they don’t sleep, really, not at all, but they don’t separate for even a second the whole night through.

-

It takes three days for Harry’s sister to arrive. It happens in the earliest hours of Friday; one moment Louis is wrapped up in his tiny, horrible bunk bed with his beautiful, precious boy and then suddenly he’s awake and there’s a lot of yelling, the guards telling them to prepare themselves, and Louis’s heart can’t physically beat any faster. 

Harry starts crying immediately, before he’s even fully awake, clinging to Louis like glue and wailing into his chest. Louis just holds him tight and breathes, fingers trembling where they’re fisted in Harry’s shirt, eyes dry despite the aching in his chest and stomach.

He’s prepared for this, theoretically. He’s had a lot of time to think over the past week and he understands that there’s about a 90% chance he’s about to lose Harry forever, that it very well may come to having to choose between Harry and humanity.

He doesn’t know what Harry’s sister is capable of, or what she’s planning to do, or even if she’s alone or backed by an entire alien army. It takes hours, maybe centuries for Harry’s sister to be led into the building, and then finally Liam and a small group of agents that Louis doesn’t know very well come down to the bunker room.

“She’s here,” Liam says, his voice grave. “She’s alone. She’s not violent or hostile, but she’s obviously confused, and scared. She’s in a conference room upstairs, and we think you should try to communicate with her,” he says, speaking only to Louis. “We can bring Harry in as a last resort, but we think it would be best for you to try and negotiate with her first.”

Louis ignores him, turning to look at Harry. “Are you okay with that? Is it alright if I go speak to her first?”

Harry nods, reaching for Lavender when Louis pulls away. “I want to stay here with Lavender,” he sniffles, cuddling her to his chest. “I don’t think you’ll be able to communicate with her; she’s stubborn, and she’s only looking to see me, but I don’t think it would hurt to try,” he says.

“Alright,” Louis breathes, kissing his lips once, quickly, before he stands up on shaking knees and lets Liam lead him out of the bunker room. One of the guards stays with Harry so he’s not completely alone, but Louis still feels sick, wants to go right back and keep holding him until this whole thing is over.

Liam leads him to the conference room on the first floor, the same one they kept Harry in when he first arrived. Harry’s sister isn’t sitting, like Harry was, but standing defensively toward the back of the room, glaring at everyone that looks at her.

Louis swallows hard at the sight of her, forcing himself to stop trembling so hard so maybe she won’t be able to sense how terrified he is. He walks over to her slowly, and he gets her harsh glare directed straight at him, but he manages to keep from flinching.

She looks exactly like Harry. Her face is almost identical, albeit a bit more feminine, with long hair and thinner lips. She looks livid, staring into Louis’s soul, her eyes unwavering and her stance strong.

“Hello,” Louis tries, but the girl stiffens, scowling at him. She makes a noise, the same type Harry makes when he speaks in his alien tongue. Louis recognizes this particular sound instantly as Harry’s name. Louis asked to hear what Harry’s name sounded like a few months ago, and he’s committed the noise to memory; hearing it now makes him feel like crumbling.

“He’s here,” he confirms, speaking slowly, voice gentle. The girl doesn’t seem to understand, narrowing her eyes at him and repeating Harry’s name again. “He’s safe,” Louis says, gives the girl a little smile, and then flinches when she starts yelling.

Her voice is very high pitched, hurts Louis’s ears when she gets angry. Louis cowers away and meets Liam’s eyes, panic filling his own. “Get Harry,” he says, backing away from the girl. “Quickly.”

He keeps trying to communicate while someone runs to get Harry, but Harry’s sister is having none of it. Her voice is truly ear splitting and Louis is rapidly losing his composure, until finally she stops altogether, going silent and still and staring over Louis’s shoulder.

Louis turns around to find Harry standing in the doorway, holding Lavender in his shaking hands. Louis is frozen to his spot as his sister approaches Harry, the guards near the door on edge as she steps right up to him.

She says something quietly to him, and Harry’s eyes instantly fill with tears. They have a quiet conversation, calm and peaceful, except for the tears that keep dripping down Harry’s face. Louis is ready to shatter, still frozen to the floor beside the conference table, aching to know what’s being said.

Finally, Harry’s eyes flicker from his sister's face to Louis’s. He looks pained, and Louis’s heart shatters.

He’s going to lose him. He can see it in Harry’s eyes.

Harry walks over silently to where Louis stands, handing over the kitten wordlessly. Louis can’t help but release a tiny sob, shaking his head as he takes Lavender in his arms. _This is it_ , he thinks, staring at Harry’s face as it swims before his eyes. Harry’s going to leave, and Louis’s never going to see him again.

Harry shakes his head, smiles sadly, and reaches out to wipe Louis’s tears away. Louis only sobs again, and Harry turns away. He’s terrified, and so confused, because Harry walks back to his sister and takes her hand, leading her the few steps back to where Louis is standing.

Suddenly, Louis finds himself face to face again with the girl. She looks confused, and vaguely disgusted by him, but Louis’s too terrified and utterly confused to stop crying long enough to ask what’s going on.

Harry doesn’t drop his sister’s hand, reaching for Louis’s with his free one, and Louis grabs on instantly, holding Lavender to his chest with one arm. Harry’s sister just keeps glaring at him, until Harry mutters something quietly to her.

She answers harshly, turning her glare on Harry, but Harry shakes his head. He says something, but she doesn’t look convinced, and then Harry turns to Louis.

“She’s confused. She doesn’t understand that you’re good,” he says, voice a little strained. 

At the sound of Harry speaking English, the girl pulls back and hisses, looking disgustedly at Harry. Harry fumbles to grab her hand again and soothes her quickly, shaking his head until she settles and allows him to lead her back over to Louis.

Harry keeps speaking to her, gesturing to Louis and then to Niall and Liam, where they’re standing in the corner, and then to some of the other agents in the room. Harry’s sister hardly takes her eyes off of Louis, but eventually she seems to loosen up, her face softening. She turns and mutters something to Harry and Harry grins, and his sister finally chuckles quietly.

Louis is still crying silently, just tears streaming down his face, so terribly and completely confused but still absolutely distraught at the thought of losing Harry. Harry turns to him, still smiling, and drops his sister’s hand in favor of reaching out to wipe at Louis’s tears again.

“It’s okay,” he breathes, his grin the brightest thing in the room. He takes Lavender back from Louis’s arms and turns back to his sister, showing her how to pet the kitten so, so gently until the girl is giggling, scratching behind Lavender’s ear.

Louis just watches on, feeling like he’s watching a film, like he’s not even really there. He can still feel tears sliding down his face but he’s numb, has absolutely no idea what’s happening.

Finally Harry’s sister pulls her hand away from the kitten, and looks up at Harry’s face. Harry smiles at her and nods, and finally she turns back to Louis, walking right up to him.

Louis does everything in his power to not flinch away, even when Harry’s sister reaches up to touch his face. She seems disgruntled by how warm he is, her fingers absolutely freezing against his skin, but she traces her fingertips down his wet cheek to cup his jaw, staring in vague wonder at his eyes.

She says something, her voice clear and sudden, and Louis blinks over at Harry. Harry just grins again, holding Lavender to his chest, and steps a little closer. “She’s asking if you promise to keep me safe here,” Harry says, voice soft and hopeful.

“Of course,” Louis says, looking back at his sister’s face. “With my life.”

Harry translates, and his sister murmurs something else, Harry turns back to Louis. “Do you think I’ll be happy and healthy here?” he translates.

“I’ll make absolutely sure of it, every day until I die,” Louis says, voice trembling dangerously.

Harry translates again, and his sister swallows hard. She keeps watching Louis for a long moment and then drops her hand to Louis’s chest, feeling his heartbeat through his shirt for three long, painful breaths. Finally she turns to Harry and reaches out to feel his heart, too, looking up at him sadly. She shakes her head and murmurs one more thing, before dropping her eyes and stepping back.

Harry steps forward, cupping her cheek, lifting her eyes to meet his own. Louis watches breathlessly as Harry smiles a melancholy smile at her, and his sister returns it perfectly, their profiles almost identical.

Finally they break apart on some unspoken cue, and Harry turns to the guards near the door. “She’s ready to leave now,” he says, his voice clear once again, calm and collected and at ease.

“Wait,” Louis whimpers, lunging forward to grab at Harry’s arm. “You’re- are you going with her?”

Harry hesitates, glancing over at Gemma. She blinks at him once and Harry smiles, turning back to Louis. “No. No, I’m staying here, with you.”

Louis’s knees buckle and he sobs, sinking into the closest chair at the table and hiding his face in his hands. He sobs quietly, can’t help himself, so overcome with relief that he can’t keep his emotions inside.

Harry rushes to him, pets his hair and coos in his ear, but Louis is to worked up, can’t pull himself together enough to even look at him. Harry pulls him up out of his chair like dead weight and holds him close, letting Louis cry into his chest for a moment.

“Darling,” he breathes, one of the many pet names he picked up from Louis, “why are you crying? I’m staying, didn’t you hear? I’m not going anywhere,” he says.

Louis presses his face into Harry’s neck, clutching at his back with shaking hands. “I was so scared,” he says, hardly loud enough for Harry to hear. “I was so scared of losing you. I never want to lose you.”

Harry chuckles quietly, pressing a long, lingering kiss to the top of Louis’s head. “You never will,” he assures, pulling away once Louis regains his composure enough to stand on his own.

“Agent Tomlinson,” someone says, and Louis looks up, wiping hard at his face as Winston approaches him cautiously. “We can’t let her leave yet,” he says, glancing uneasily at Harry’s sister. “The sun is coming up, it’s too light out. We can’t let her leave in daylight, or she’ll be seen, and people will talk. We have to wait until dark,” he explains.

Harry turns to his sister, relaying the information quickly. His sister just blinks at him and says a few words in response, and Harry turns back to Winston. “She says that’s alright,” he says. “Do you think- um, I mean, would it be alright if I show her around a bit, just for the day? Not much, I mean, just the apartment, and maybe some things around the city,” he says hopefully.

Winston sighs and glances at Harry’s sister again, mulling it over for a moment. “I suppose that’s alright,” he mutters, but he doesn’t seem thrilled about it. “Please, just, keep her in check. We’re really trusting you here, Harry, if she causes any kind of trouble you’re going to be to blame,” he says.

Harry nods quickly, clasping his hands in front of his bellybutton, as professional as ever. “Yes, sir, I understand,” he says, smiling when Winston rolls his eyes at him and walks away.

Louis feels like he’s going to pass out, still overwhelmed with emotion and confusion and exhaustion, most of all, because he hasn’t slept in days and relief is still washing over him like a drug, making his bones feel heavy in the most welcome way.

It’s going to be a long day, because Harry is an endless source of energy on any given day, but Louis thinks he’ll survive. He gets to keep Harry, and that’s all that matters.

-

They leave Lavender with Niall for the day, mostly because Harry wants to take his sister to all of the places Louis took him when he first came here. He wants to introduce her to coffee, to the buildings and parks around the city, wants to explain to her how plants and animals work here. Louis’s mainly just tagging along for safety, and also maybe to make sure that Harry’s sister doesn’t steal him and take him home after all.

Harry teaches his sister a few English words before they leave, including his own name, Louis’s name, and a few other important things she’ll likely have to know. Louis’s about nodding off in the corner of the bunker room when Harry turns to him, worrying his lip between his teeth.

“She needs an English name,” Harry says, gesturing to his sister. “What should we call her?”

Louis looks at her, noticing a thin string around her neck with an orange gem pendant hanging at the dip of her clavicle. Louis hums quietly, meeting her eyes again. “Um, well she’s got a gem on her necklace, so… Gemma?”

“Gemma,” Harry smiles, turning back to his sister. “It fits her well.”

Harry takes a few moments to teach Gemma her new name, and once she seems to understand, he gestures to Louis, and Gemma comes shuffling over to demonstrate her new language.

“Louis,” she says, nodding toward him. “Gemma,” she says, placing her hand on her own cheek, “Harry,” she gestures to Harry.

“Good,” Harry grins, shooting a blinding smile at Louis. “Was teaching me English this much fun for you?”

“Probably not,” Louis laughs, shaking his head as he stands up. “Ready to go?”

They head out in Louis’s car, and Harry explains to her in simple English what certain things are and how they work, and slowly Gemma picks up some more words. She’s not quite as quick to learn as Harry was, but she is still remarkably intelligent, and Louis is quite impressed. She seems to open up more and more to the idea of Earth with every new thing she sees, but after hissing at a dog on the sidewalk for trying to sniff at her shoe, Louis thinks it might be best to take her back to the apartment and let Harry show her around there.

They didn’t quite make it to the coffee shop, so Harry makes Gemma some coffee back at Louis’s apartment so that she can try it, and then explains just about every single thing in the living room to her. He moves on to the bathroom next and Louis takes it upon himself to order some pizza for an early dinner, because he knows it’s one of Harry’s favorites and he’ll probably be eager to show it to Gemma.

He does his best not to fall asleep on the couch while Harry shows Gemma how the shower works and then brings her to the bedroom to explain how humans sleep on special pads because sleeping on anything else hurts a lot, Harry knows from experience. Gemma seems intrigued, but still weary, until the pizza arrives and Harry absolutely lights up.

It’s not hard to see that Harry loves Earth, though Louis supposes Gemma would have known that anyway, if Harry’s always been as interested in it as he claims. But now, sitting on Louis’s couch eating human food and listening to Harry ramble on and on in a language she still mostly doesn’t understand, Louis can see that Gemma is starting to realize just how much he loves it here. Her eyes are soft, but not sad, just fond as she lets Harry talk and talk, only interrupting every now and again to ask a question in her native tongue, only for Harry to answer in English. Louis just hopes that she really does see how happy he is, and will be okay with letting him stay here when she leaves tonight.

They stay at the apartment until it starts to get dark, and then they head back to the headquarters to wait for the go ahead for Gemma to leave. They sit in the bunker room for a bit, with Niall and Liam and Lavender, until Niall and Liam have to head out to go home and then it’s just the three of them again.

“You look tired,” Harry says, nose pressed against Louis’s temple. It’s the first bit of real attention Louis’s gotten from him all day, and he soaks it up. “Your eyes are all droopy.”

“Yeah, I’m a bit tired,” Louis yawns, cuddling close to Harry’s side where they’re resting on the bed. Gemma is sitting on the floor, playing with Lavender, the sound of her giggling so eerily similar to Harry’s giggle that it makes Louis’s heart ache a little.

“Take a nap,” Harry suggests, shifting until Louis slips off his shoulder and lands in his lap, immediately digging his hands into Louis’s hair and rubbing at his scalp.

Louis is helpless to that, drifting off fast and deep, snoring quietly against Harry’s thigh. Harry never stops playing with his hair, even when Gemma catches his eye from the floor.

“I really love him,” Harry tells her, quietly, in a language she understands completely.

“I can see that you do,” Gemma says, eyes flickering down to Louis’s face for a moment. “But are you entirely sure you want to stay here? It’s not too late to change your mind, but once I go, I’m not coming back.”

“I’m staying here,” Harry says, looking down at Louis as he combs the hair away from his face. “I’m never leaving him, ever. This is where I belong now.”

Gemma smiles softly at him, shaking her head slowly. “Leave it to you, little brother,” she chuckles quietly. “Leave it to you to run away from home and fall in love with an alien.”

Louis whines softly in his sleep and Harry’s fingers resume their work in his hair, stirring into action where they’d been resting against his hairline. It’s almost completely dark out by now, and Gemma will be on her way home soon, and every second thought Harry might have ever had is disappearing with every tiny breath Louis puffs out of his mouth.

-

Louis wakes up with a start, realizing he’s alone in the bunker room. Lavender is sleeping in her bed in the corner but Harry and Gemma are nowhere to be found, and Louis’s blood turns to ice in his veins.

Harry left. He changed his mind while Louis was asleep, and he’s gone. He couldn’t even say goodbye, just got up and left with Gemma, and Louis’s never going to see him again.

He takes off at a run and makes it up the stairs in record time, dashing down the long hallway on the first floor that takes him to the back door of the building. Gemma’s aircraft is already gone and the building is absolutely silent, save for the harsh sounds of Louis’s own breathing.

He tears open the back door and all but trips outside, glancing around the dark with frantic eyes. His pounding heart throbs painfully when he sees a figure curled up on the ground a few feet from the door, head leant back against the building and staring up at the sky. Louis can see his eyes all the way from the door, almost glowing in the moonlight, wide and green and here, still here.

“Haz,” he breathes, dropping to the ground beside him, not taking his eyes off of him. “You alright?”

“Yeah,” Harry hums, dropping his head onto Louis’s shoulder. They’re quiet for a moment, until Harry reaches for his hand. “She’s gone. I didn’t want to wake you.”

“You should have,” Louis says, pressing a kiss to the top of Harry’s head. “Are you alright?”

“Of course,” Harry says, picking his head up to smile up at him. “I’m still here with you, why wouldn’t I be alright?”

“You won’t miss her?” Louis says, chest aching at the thought of every having to say goodbye to any of his sisters, knowing it was the last time he’d see them. 

“I’ve no reason to miss her,” Harry says. “We said goodbye. We have good memories together, and we are both at peace with this. I’m happy with my choices, Louis, and missing her would be pointless,” he explains.

Louis doesn’t understand that, but it’s not like he wants Harry to be sad, so he supposes he should stop arguing. He just nods and pulls Harry against his side again, and Harry cuddles into him like he belongs there, like he always will belong there.

Louis ends up nodding off again until the sun comes up, and Harry wakes him with a kiss and a smile. “We should go home,” he says, voice barely above a whisper. All Louis can do is smile and nod, because Harry is here, and he’s never leaving.

-

They go back to bed when they get back to the apartment, Harry passing out on the bed before Louis has even brought all of their stuff in from the car. Louis just tucks him in and lets Lavender curl up on the pillow by his head, and then finally crawls in too. The three of them sleep the rest of the morning away, and though they’re hardly alone in the universe, Louis thinks sometimes he wouldn’t mind if they were.

This is a sure thing, a forever thing, and it’s all Louis ever dreamed of. Harry’s home now; maybe Louis’s his home, and that’s alright, because after everything, Harry is his home, too.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading. 
> 
> if you liked the fic, you can reblog it [here](http://suspendrs-fics.tumblr.com/post/170016714407/suspendrs-somewhere-far-away-from-here-by)  
>  
> 
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